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Haunted
Haunted is a novella made and owned by Icestormshadow as a part of the Rise of Balance Saga and Inamorta: Origins Sub-Series. Haunted: Characters and Locations, please refer to this page once it is made for general information about the story Prologue - The Insanity Overcomes As Devon sat, writing a letter for his half breed nephew, hoping, that someone, could cleanse the festering abominations that were in the overgrown ruins of the once prosperous barony. "Ruin has come to our family. You remember our venerable house, wealthy and imperial, gazing proudly from its silent perch above the forest. I lived all my years in that ancient rumor shadowed manor, fattened by decadence and luxury, and yet I began to tire of... conventional extravagance. Singular unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous and unnameable power. With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on... swarthy workmen, and.... mastercrafted pickaxes, and... sturdy shovels. At last, in the iron filled crags beneath the lowest foundations, we unearthed that damnable portal of antediluvian evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth, but we were in a realm of death and madness. In the end, I alone fled, laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity. Until consciousness failed me. You remember our venerable house, wealthy and imperial. It is a festering abomination! I beg you, return home, claim your birthright and deliver our family from the ravenous clutching shadows.... of The Nameless Mist. Your Uncle Devon." He then grabbed the pistol and aimed it at his head, he was out like a light, never again to wake. Chapter 1 - Old Memories A Few Years Ago........ Devon sat in his desk chair, writing a message to the pirates who smuggled "essentials" for his "operations". All the sudden a guard intruded upon his study, "Make it quick, guard" he said in annoyance "Sir, the people, they are rioting" the guard says "What, well, that is just inconvenient" Devon says "Your Brother is the leader of the riot" the guard explains further "He DARE" Devon says, offended "I Order all guards to suppress this, while i seek help from the outside, got it?" Devon said "Yes Sir" the guard bows slightly before heading out "Now, where was i, ahhh, contacting the pirates" Devon said to himself as he finishes the message. Devon then took out a small mirror, and gazes into it, and said "Wolf" A face of a bandit with a wolf's head appeared in the mirror. "I have some work for you...." Devon said "Oh, what is it, and how much are getting paid?" Wolf asked "Just, putting down a minor nuisance, and you will be getting paid around 100 gp for your valiant efforts" Devon says "Sure, what is it you want us to do?" Wolf said. "Take out the rebellious scum of the hamlet" Devon said The bandit smiled "Of course my lord" Then the face in the mirror disappeared, Devon then went back to his eldritch books and arcane tomes, studing who knows what.... Chapter 2 - The Journey Begins Henry was in the middle of practicing magic in the basement, as Magic was banned at the end of the Wazret World War. Known better as half-breeds like him as the Extinction of Magic and your lives, although his noble position protected him for now, he knew it was only a matter of time before Wazret would start murdering half-breeds to keep stability. Then his friend, Zack, rushed in. Zack was a Wazret, who’s life Henry had saved when he was younger, and he had basically raised after his mother was killed for supporting the Precursors, after he found out that he was orphaned. While Zack, unlike many Wazret, did not hate magic, he was still apprehensive to the idea, Henry hoped to wane him off of normal school and maybe teach him a few tricks he could defend himself with, alas that was most likely wishful thinking. Zack then handed him a letter, Henry then looked at it, it was his uncle from the Saxony estate,one of the few places no one, not even the Zealous Wazret Precursors Exterminators would go, as rumors of forces from other worlds kept many from going there, as well as it was one of the few places that had embraced true equality between Wazret and Precursor before the war. The estate was run by his Uncle, Devon Saxony, whm had sent away after a rebellion from “things he could not comprehend”. He still to this day would have rather stayed and had fun. “But maybe it was for the best”, he thought wistfully. He opened and it’s contents surprised him, it was his uncle asking him to return. “Well then, looks like I'm moving” Henry stated “We not us?” Zack asked “Because, where i am going, your kind fear to tread” Henry responded “Boo, I can take on magic maggots anyday” Zack said, then realized that he used inappropriate language. “Zack, we don’t use that kind of language around here” Henry stated in response. “But everyone else does, why can’t i” Zack whined “Because, you need to learn to grow up, and become something greater than a homeless man” Henry stated “But I like the thrill of doing illegal stuff, like living with you” Zack says “You need to get over your childishness and grow up, but we can discuss this later, are you sure you want to come with me?” Henry switched the topic and asked. “Of course! I will see new stuff, and maybe go on an adventure” Zack responded “We won’t be going on an adventure, hopefully” Henry half murmured “So, can we get weapons and armor, please, please, please” Zack begged “We will be, but first you need to finish your studies first” Henry said Zack then rushed off to finish his studies, Henry sighed, the optimism of youth. Henry wished he could have had that phase of life, instead of being an outcast and rejected by most people as a result of his heritage and forced to grow up early. Alas, he couldn’t stop to linger, not when there were loads of packing to do, as he began making boxes and items float to him. Three Hours later…. Zack rushed up to Henry, “I’m done with my studies Henry” “Good, now, help load up the cart, and we can go to the market” Henry said Zack the nloaded the cart, with Henry overseeing him and telling to be careful with this and that. Then they got onto the cart and Henry floated them to the market, which he wouldn’t have done otherwise, but it was going to be his last time on town, so he might as well do some fun things (mainly as Zack was begging him to do some fun stuff). After floating to the marker with the cart, and many people either baffled at the technology, or accusing him of using magic. They then went over to the blacksmiths section, on the way the duo decided to have a talk about what they wanted for weapons and armor and why. “I want heavy armor, full plate because i want to be a knight” Zack said enthusiastically “You see, I prefer lighter armor to roll around instead being a dummy and taking loads of hits and not be able to land any hits” Henry said “But tanking is better, as you can stay alive longer in a fight, and have a higher of surviving” Zack countered “Ahh, you see, defeating them is the best way to stay alive” Henry countered back “But, but… I see your point” Zack conceded “But… Can we ride horses with a gun lance” Zack asked “No, as that would be impractical and clunky where we are going” Henry said “Boo” Zack said “Where are we going anyway?” Zack asked “A forest, and moor” Henry responded “Oh, cool” Zack half-heartedly “So, what weapons are you getting?” Zack asked “Well, I'm getting a load, so should you, but as for specifics, well two repeating revolvers, a sword and a repeating revolver, and two daggers” Henry said “Well, then, hmmmmmm...i would like, Two heavy swords, a shield, and a minigun” Zack said “How are you going to even carry all that?” Henry asked “I can pull it out of the cart and use it’ Zack said “What if you you away from the wagon and need it?” Henry asked “Then… booooo fine, you win” Zack said, conceding once again “So, what are you going to buy now?” Henry asked “Maybe a minigun, two longswords, and two spiked shields” Zack said “Ehh… fine, as long as the minigun isn’t too much” Henry stated at last “YAY” Zack exclaimed Henry just sighed “So, how much longer till the market?” Zack asked “Soon” Henry responded A few minutes later they landed, with Henry turning the wagon rainbow, and landing with a puff of smoke, then he proceeded to barter with the merchants and got a lot of stuff 20% or greater off the normal value.leaving them with a little for the journey. On a happy note, they began their journey and left the city. Chapter 3 They left the city disguised as standard Wazret, hoping to avoid too much attention, they did, but Henry noticed a small magical presence had begun trailing them, he told Zack to watch out for anyone, and let him know, as they were most likely being followed and lead into a trap. Zack just nodded and began watching A few minutes later zack got bored and they had a talk about history. “So, Why did the Wazret go to war Henry?” Zack asked “Because of Racial Hatred that stretched back hundreds of years, mainly because the Precursors made the Wazret slaves, after around a thousand years of slavery, the Wazret rose up and freed themselves, with support of the Liberators, which were a group of Precursors who disliked the slavery status of both the Eracan and Wazret-” Henry said and was interupted by Zack. “What are the Eracan?” Zack interrupted and asked. “They a race of humanoids with blue skin and moderate magical potential, they are still around, in hiding somewhere today” Henry said. “Why won’t they show themselves?” Zack asked. “Because your race would proably murder them as soon as they showed themselves” Henry responded. “Oh” Zack said. “Anyways, where was i, ahhh yes. So the Wazret won their freed, and it entered a period of discrimination known as the Seperate of Magical Levels, which set the Wazret as the lowest class, with the Eracan as second-class citzens, and Precursors at the top. This system was at first supported by mainly Precursors and some Eracan, but soon the system began giving way to true equality, however, two hundred years free was not enough for some Wazret, they wanted the Precursors to pay in full for their crimes, this group became known as the PHC, the Precursor Hatred Committee-” He was interrupted this time by an arrow beside his head. “Ahh, finally” said Zack, as he pulled out an assault rifle. Henry simply lets sparks fly of his fingers as he stepped out. The Bandits were not able to be seen normally, so Henry then sent Lightning at a bush, which struck instantly, and loudly, it also happened to set the underbrush on fire, which then they heard rustling,and Henry then shot a swath of the surrounding forest with fire, setting it ablaze, and they began hearing screams, the bandits screaming as more shots came towards them, Henry put up a Water and Earth Shield to stop the bullet, it didn’t stop most of them as they hit the wagon. Zack then began firing, and killed 3 bandits, as they began running away from their hellish foes. With the Bandits gone, the two got back onto the wagon. “Yesssssss, i got 3 kills” Zack said quietly “Wow, excited about killing people, then again, your with me, so what else should I have expected” Henry said and then sighed. They sat in silence for some of the trip, before Zack asked to finish hearing the history lesson. “Okay, so the Precursor Hatred Committee was soon joined by all who felt slighted by the Precursors, and then they began launching raids on Precursor things, generally failing, which angered them, so they used their defeats as propaganda to incite and stir up anger in the Wazret population, and it worked, however, reactionaries known as the Wazret Committee of Precursor Preservation which sought to stop the group, the two groups quickly turned violent on each other, and the Precursors, in order to stop the fighting, burned the PHC’s base to the ground, which at that point the PHC stated that the Wazret race had declared war on them, and so the war began, with Wazret rising up everywhere as the incident was blown out of proportion by rebel media. The Precursors then began mass extermination of Wazret in still loyal areas, ones that were loyal were told to remain loyal and hide, lest they die from the mass killing spells. Most of the remaining ones at that point turned traitor, and were killed, the Precursors were then bombarded by numerous Artillery strikes, which for the first time in their history, they were surprised and as a result lost many forces. Further compounding this is the joining the Eracan, who concealed many Wazret Artillery positions, and they attempted ruthless extermination of the Precursors, only to find themselves being the burnt of a much more effective one, see, there were only around 100,000 Precursors, and 10,000,000 Wazret, which meant more targets for the Precursor, while the Wazret had a very high Technological edge, the Precursors had magic, which was much more effective than most tech. The Precursors and Wazret then fought it out, with the Wazret winning, although most were Pyrrhic victories, as the Wazret always lost at least 10 Wazret for every one Precursor, at the end of the bloody ten years, We lost contact with Sildan, which had a race known as the Chloroplan residing in it along with the Wazret, and the Wazret on that continent stayed neutral during the war, and even took in certain Precursors, needless to say, the vast majority of Precursors were utterly destroyed, And there are rumors of Precursor, Chloroplan, and Wazret Hybrids on Sildan, but no one has been able to confirm.” Henry said in a massive state, which he began breathing and recovering his breath. “Why has no one been able to confirm?” Zack asked. “Because, there is now a shroud around the entire place, that prevents anyone from going in” Henry stated. “So what happened Post-War?” Zack asked somewhat bored “Well, the PHC reformed into the United Wazret Empire, which then is in the process of putting all Wazret not loyal to the cause on Mortia, which looks a lot like a dragon’s head, and the Government has begun losing stability, as various factions turn on each other, and they of course redirect blame on others, in order to keep the realm going, however, soon they will fall due to internal issues, at least in my opinion” Henry said, and took another breather while Zack just watched. Soon, the sun set, and they set up camp, and Henry set up minor shields, and they went to sleep, in the morning, They packed up and Henry summoned a few slabs for them to eat, and they cooked and ate, then left for another day of traveling, which they didn’t encounter any bandits for the next few days, which Zack considered to be disappointing, scared by a little fire. Tehy then came upon a section of forest with giant mushrooms, then is when they realized they were not in a normal land anymore, as they both began to get headaches.Category:Rise of Balance Saga Category:Icestormshadow Category:Wazret Category:Precursors Category:Inamorta: Origins Category:Story Category:Utopia Category:Dark Empire